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I wasn't referring to tax rebates, but rather cash subsidies, grants and loans all with taxpayer money.
OK. Federal cash subsidies, grants and loans of course affect a vast number of business and other entities in the USA and world, and most will be debatable on a political/economic basis.
I personally enjoy and invest in technologies like solar. Although I own no EV as of yet.
The EV tax credit is not a rebate. The $7500 comes off your Federal tax bill at filing time. A rebate is a check in the mail at some later date, which could be subsidized by we the taxpayers.
Like the 2008 first home buyer tax rebate. This was rebate check, and would apply even if you had no Federal tax obligation.
How right you are. I bought a hybrid two years ago and drive it 500 miles a week. My gasoline costs are $25 a week. This is not a significant factor in my family budget.
Although the likelihood of a war between Iran and Saudi Arabia is low. The threat of one would involve Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The threat alone could double the price of oil in a matter of months.
It certainly could, but 'double' is no longer crippling. And as the world is now much less dependent on the ME for supply, even if gas doubled to $3-4, our world would go on supplied from elsewhere. IMO this affect would be much less than what happened in the '70's. If it should happen. And I doubt it will happen.
The Volt is very luxurious. But you are right with the cargo space, but it doesn't really affect us. And we lease btw so we got no tax break. My husband drives an hour to and from work to DC and the cost of gas was insane. We really don't have any gas cost anymore.
The luxurious to me is more along the lines of an Escalade or BMW 7 series. Space, trim, all the trinkets you can think of, performance, comfort. A "luxury small car" is an oxymoron.
I assume your husband did not drive a Focus or Scion or Corolla before Volt ? Even the Corolla, a somewhat bigger compact, is rated at 30 mpg city / 42 hwy. Let's take the middle, 36 mpg. At 36 mpg, a person driving 18,000 miles a year, which is more miles than the vast majority of Americans are driving, will use 500 gallons of gas. At the current price of gas ($1.85 here) it's $925 per year. Even if gas was $2.50, it would be $1,250 per year. The Corolla base MSRP is $17,230. Volt, $33,170. How many years would it take to make up the difference, even if you never have to put any gas in that Volt ?
Now, I see that you're leasing, so you're largely shielded from the real cost of that Volt. Of course the flip side is, you're stuck making this lease payment and never really own anything. Not saying this is right or wrong, it's a matter of preference. I can't even lease, the amount I drive makes it impractical, I buy my cars and ride them into the ground in 10 years. My car currently averages 25 mph, about half city / highway, and last year I drove around 19,000 miles. That's a whopping $1,406 in gas. I think it was closer to $1,600 because the gas was a bit more expensive. It's a sports sedan that's fun to drive and would eat up a Volt or Corolla on the road, it also has enough room for a family of four with luggage to take a week long road trip in the Upper Michigan peninsula with some comfort (although now we have an SUV for this). And it was still cheaper than Volt.
I am not knocking Volt - quite the opposite, as I said, I believe it to be the best executed electric car concept currently available. I'm just saying that if you look at it from a purely financial perspective, there are other cars that make far more sense. And it's the best electric car...
It's perfectly fine to buy it if you like it, and it's even better if you lease since you're shielded from many potential problems down the road. But the whole electric car market is not yet out of a niche. They are getting closer though.
OK. Federal cash subsidies, grants and loans of course affect a vast number of business and other entities in the USA and world, and most will be debatable on a political/economic basis.
Not debatable, just wrong. And thank you for acknowledging your own dishonesty in the previous post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoonose
I personally enjoy and invest in technologies like solar. Although I own no EV as of yet.
Go ahead, knock your sox off. Your choice and how it should be. Just don't stick up your unwilling neighbor and make him invest in your dream.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoonose
The EV tax credit is not a rebate. The $7500 comes off your Federal tax bill at filing time. A rebate is a check in the mail at some later date, which could be subsidized by we the taxpayers.
Was never debating that, why bring it up?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoonose
Like the 2008 first home buyer tax rebate. This was rebate check, and would apply even if you had no Federal tax obligation.
When your car can get you across the country for free and it's actually a beautiful work of art, you tend to not hate on those particular electric cars. As the number of charging stations increases, the viability of electric cars will only increase. Tesla is actually moving the needle in the right direction.
While low gas prices may make taking a road trip from New York City to Los Angeles more viable, who would argue with doing it for free and paying zero for gas instead?? And how about doing it in a car that is absolutely beautiful?
Most other electric cars are years behind Tesla unfortunately.
Not debatable, just wrong. And thank you for acknowledging your own dishonesty in the previous post.
Go ahead, knock your sox off. Your choice and how it should be. Just don't stick up your unwilling neighbor and make him invest in your dream.
Was never debating that, why bring it up?
Criminal mindset at work.
Of course it's debatable. Many things Gov't pushes through tax preferences have extreme value for the masses. IMO alternatives to conventional energies and transportation are relatively high on my list. Not yours, fine.
The amount of tax you and I pay for this is minimal, if indeed more than zero.
When your car can get you across the country for free and it's actually a beautiful work of art, you tend to not hate on those particular electric cars.
Are you kidding? Free?
Let's assume you get out of having to pay for any electricity to run your Tesla.
The Tesla Model S with the best range retails for $105,000. This is easily $50,000 more than a pretty nice luxury gasoline car. Gasoline is currently ~$2.00.
So with an average of 25mpg, I can take the savings and drive 625,000 miles for free. This is further than a round trip to the moon by over 100,000 miles.
What we need is more electric car companies like Tesla.
MOTOR
375 volt AC induction air-cooled electric motor with variable frequency drive.
Roadster Sport
295 lb-ft at 0-5,100 rpm
299 hp (223 kW) at 4,400-6,000 rpm
Max rpm 14,000 rpm
Faraday future demoed their concept car. The Tesla sport you mention? Has half the power of current teslas. And then...Faraday is 1,000 hp. Tesla may be doing just as well by the time Faraday finally manages to produce them though.
So your wish is being answered, Tesla has competition thats pretty serious.
When your car can get you across the country for free and it's actually a beautiful work of art, you tend to not hate on those particular electric cars. As the number of charging stations increases, the viability of electric cars will only increase. Tesla is actually moving the needle in the right direction.
While low gas prices may make taking a road trip from New York City to Los Angeles more viable, who would argue with doing it for free and paying zero for gas instead?? And how about doing it in a car that is absolutely beautiful?
Most other electric cars are years behind Tesla unfortunately.
YEAH, how much????
Electrics will remain a niche for a long time..................Tesla is a niche within a niche.
Why pay a premium to purchase and electrical/hybrid car when you can purchase one of those old-fashioned "gas guzzlers" that get 35-40 mpg for much, much less. Quite frankly, the math just doesn't work. Hell, even my Corvette can get 30mpg out on the open road.
Let the market decide what technology it prefers.
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